Wednesday, 31 October 2012

Oops! As pointed out by Anonymous, I missed one Minicab! So make that 16 Minicabs in New Zealand to date. The missing Minicab is ZK-EEO, as posted below:

ZK-EEO (GY 20 c/n AACA/311) was built by Dick Usher of Queenstown and was first registered on 25/1/79 making it our twelfth Minicab and the only New Zealand Minicab to be built in the South Island. It was sold to GN Hughes of Tauranga on 21/8/84, then back to the South Island with a succession of owners around Rangiora: MD McMillan from 18/2/86, RB Allison from 8/9/89 then LN Tuff from 6/7/95. It moved further South nearer its roots to GB Taylor of Mossburn on 3/10/01.

It was withdrawn and cancelled on 25/7/11, but it is currently stored at Oamaru with Colin Hay. I do not have a record of who took the top photo or where it was taken. The lower photo was taken at the 2000 AACA flyin at Matamata.

Cessna 185A Skywagon ZK-DPY (c/n 1850270) was allocated the US registration of N4070Y on 07-12-1961 but because it was built for export it probably never carried these US marks. Foreign bound Cessna's were often painted in their future markings and flown under the Cessna test/trade allocation of N11B. They were then flown down to Houston for shipping. 1850270 was shipped out to Rex Aviation Pty Ltd at Bankstown, Australia for onward delivery to E Pendercost of Noumea, New Caledonia, with whom it became F-OBYE on 14-06-1962. I believe it was shipped to NZ in late 1973 to be registered here as ZK-DPY, first flying as such on 08-01-1974 with Rex Aviation (NZ) Ltd at Ardmore. It was listed to Southwest Helicopters Ltd of Taupo by the 18th, but did not stay long, as by 09-07-1974 it was re-listed to Woody Rouse, R G Selbie and R A Soper of Lumsden and I seem to recall that it was based on the Five Rivers airstrip.

Airflite South Ltd of Taieri acquired it as from 10-02-1982.

Above is a shot of ZK-DPY as seen at Wanaka on 08-01-1983.
Below another view, but at Momona on 17-07-1983.

It was re-listed to Proutings Mesopotamia Ltd on 26-08-1983, with whom it remains.

Photo below was taken at Timaru on 23-09-2012.

As a mater of interest, Cessna 185A c/n 1850271 (the next on the production line) also went to New Caledonia and became F-OBYD with the Aero Club Caledonien, later becaming F-OCQB. Eventually off course it became ZK-EKA, but I guess that's another story.

Tuesday, 30 October 2012

This post completes the New Zealand Minicabs to date. There might others out there still under construction, but I would guess that there would not be many.

ZK-CZT (GY 201 c/n AACA/81/1) was built by Paul Parsons of Hamilton over many years and was registered to Endersley Aviation C/- PR Parsons on 14/11/89. It is photo'd here at an airshow at Matamata in 1991, and it can be seen that it has a different canopy to other Minicabs. I don't think it has flown much. It sat outside at Hamilton Airport for some time, and when I last saw it, it was hangared at Te Kowhai.

ZK-LDL (GY 20 c/n AACA/402) was a long term project that was originally registered to DJ and KA Clark of Feilding on 27/6/89 as ZK-FRQ. The project was sold to GR Long of Pahiatua on 8/11/94 but it was cancelled on 1/12/97. On the same day it was re-registered ZK-LDL to GR Long, now of Taihape, and was presumably completed at that time. It was cancelled again on 14/4/05 but restored one month later, on 9/5/05 by Izard Pacific of Springhill, who were acting as aircraft brokers I assume, because one month later they sold it to PA Andrews of Pokeno on 12/6/05. It was sold to AJ Brough of New Plymouth on 3/7/08, and finally to HW Bradley of Turangi on 29/9/11, with whom it is still current. The above photo was taken at the 2007 Black Sands flyin at Raglan.

And our final Minicab was GY 20 ZK-DRK (c/n 249) which was built by David R King at Tauranga where it was first registered on 24/10/06. Dave was helped in the construction by Rob Gentry, and it has Robbie's hallmarks in the fixed fin and rudder (refer to his D 11 ZK-DGA still to be posted). It is photo'd here at the 2008 SAANZ flyin at Tauranga. It was cancelled on 14/1/11 and I don't think it has ever flown. However it has recently had a new lease of life, being purchased by Cliff Bellingham of Pukekohe and being re-registered by him on 24/9/12. Cliff has also recently purchased Minicab ZK-BUC (see Gardan GY 20/201 Minicabs of New Zealand (1)), so it will be interesting to see developments there.

Of course there have been many other Minicab projects started in New Zealand over the years, and some of these were registered under the registration policy of the time where registrations could be issued early in the life of projects. These included ZK-CRO (which was to be a Hawk BOM-4 Minicab), ZK-CVO, ZK-CVZ, ZK-CXV, ZKCZD, ZK-CZN, ZK-DKS, ZK-DYD and ZK-EFL which was re-registered and completed as ZK-RJK.

Sunday, 28 October 2012

New Zealand's ninth Minicab was GY 20 ZK-EDX (c/n AACA/224/1), which was built by B Turner at Dargaville. It was first registered on 13/2/75. Dargaville was a bit of a hotbed for Minicabs, as this was the third one from the area (after ZK-BUB and ZK-DDH). It is photo'd here at the 1986 AACA flyin at Matamata.

It was sold to KW Sample of Hikurangi on 28/6/99 then to a permutation of owners in the Wellington area - LA Bennett and MCL Andrews of Upper Hutt on 20/5/06, Gingernut Ltd (LA Bennett and MC Bennett) on 1/3/08, then to Tail Down Ltd (CC Cervino) of Wellington on 25/6/09 then to CC Cervino on 10/2/11.

Most recently it was sold to TJ Williams of Hokitika, where it now wears this new colour scheme. Thanks to Allan Bowman for this photo which comes via Blue Bus.

The next Minicab to be registered was ZK-CZQ (GY 201 c/n AACA/80/1) which was built over many years by Charlie Parsons and Ivan Wrathall of Mangeteparo, Thames Valley. It was first registered on 12/1/78. It was sold to CK Parsons and EA Parsons of Morrinsville on 16/6/80, then to GW and KW Davey of Te Aroha on 17/5/89. Sadly it crashed on take off from a bush strip on Ngamatea Station near Taupo on 2/3/90 with the loss of 2 lives. The aircraft was burnt out and the crash started a forest fire as I remember. It was cancelled on 21/12/94. The above photo was taken at the 1982 AACA flyin at Taupo.

ZK-RJK (c/n AACA/187/1) was a GY 20 model that was built by RJ King at Waipawa, and was first registered on 8/6/78. It was sold to Jan Douglas-White (now Jan Chisum) of Hastings on 6/3/95, with whom it is still current. The above photo was taken at a Wairarapa Chapter AACA flyin at a racecourse North of Masterton in 1987. It has not changed at all over the years.

And the final Minicab of this batch is ZK-DSS (GY 20 c/n AACA/157) which was built by Lance Violich of Rotorua and first registered to him on 30/11/84. It was sold to T Woodroffe of Papakura on 27/8/85 then to Merv Meredith of Waipukurau on 21/7/87. I think this was when Merv Meredith was acting as an aircraft broker because it was sold to CA and PTE Liefting of Pukekohe on 10/11/87. it suffered an accident on 1/12/87 when it struck power lines at Waiuku. It was cancelled on 4/11/98. I do not have a record of who took the above photo.

Saturday, 27 October 2012

Our next Minicab off the rank was ZK-DAG ( GY 201 c/n AACA/14/1) which was built by Merv Meredith at Waipukurau and was first registered on 10/11/71. Merv was the President of the AACA for many years and he flew ZK-DAG extensively around New Zealand. He also built Turbulent ZK-CBN and EAA Acrosport ZK-MWM. The above photo was taken at the 1972 AACA flyin at Masterton.

The above photo was taken at the 1981 AACA flyin at Mt Hutt. Tragically Merv Meredith and a friend were killed when ZK-DAG crashed in the ranges South of Taupo on 24/4/91, when when a weather bomb caught them out while returning from a fishing trip in the Bay of Plenty. ZK-DAG was cancelled on 22/11/91.

Our next Minicab was a GY 20 model. ZK-DMM (c/n AACA/180/1) was built in Auckland by GL Hall, and was first registered on 5/8/75. Its first flight was on 7/8/75 and it featured a sprung steel undercarriage. It was sold to FS martin of Patumahoe on 6/12/78, then to DR King of Matamata on 2/3/89. It is photo'd here at the 1992 AACA flyin at Tauranga.

It then migrated to the South Island under the ownership of the Lillybank Syndicate of Rangiora from 23/11/98. Somewhere along the line it was repainted in the above colour scheme, as photo'd at the 2009 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton.

Next came ZK-DDH (GY 201 c/n AACA/106/1) built by Ralph Leaf of Dargaville, which was first registered on 7/1/76. It is photo'd here at the 1981 AACA flyin at Mt Hutt. The colour scheme was unusual but I guess looked beautiful to the builder. Maybe it was a good colour scheme to be seen in the air. It was sold to KE George of Pukekohe on 18/6/87.

It was sold to Keith Turner of Masterton on 13/6/08 and now wears this new colour scheme as photo'd at Feilding. It was re-designated as a Class 2 Microlight on 8/10/12.

And the final Minicab of this group is ZK-EEF (GY 201 c/n IW1 163) which was built by Ian Whyman at Wanganui, and was first registered on 22/7/76. This was different to other Minicabs in that it had a 2100 cc Revmaster motor and had a lighter MAUW. I do not have a record of who took the above photo, which is at Wanganui. It was sold to AR Gernier of Te Aroha on 4/5/79.

Then it went to the EEF Syndicate of Auckland on 3/6/88. It is photo'd here under the syndicate ownership at the 1989 AACA flyin at Taeri. It was named Rag Doll in the syndicates ownership and it suffered several minor accidents in 1992 and 1999. It was rebuilt by syndicate members Ian Davis, Bob Keith and Allan McCreadie and first flew after its rebuild on 22/7/00, in the colour scheme as below.

It was sold to AR Wood of Wellington on 11/5/04 and was re-designated a Class 2 Microlight on 6/9/04. It then went to BG McClennan of new Plymouth on 18/7/07 and finally to its current owner Gary Marsh of Inglewood on 13/4 10. It was re-engined with a 85 HP Aero Vee engine in September 2010. The above photo is at the 2007 Black Sands flyin at Raglan.﻿

Cessna A185F Skywagon c/n 18502103 was built as N70302 during early 1973. It was sent off to Australia where it became VH-FRL on 11-05-1973 with Geraldton Fishermans Cooperative in Geraldton, Western Australian. The pic below was snapped in July of 1975 and comes from the Ed Coates collection.

By early may of 1987 it was with A T Knappstein at Clare in South Australia, remaining there until purchased by Timothy Douglas-Clifford of Christchurch NZ in November 1993. Tim at the time was flying for Garden City Helicopters (and still is - but out of Nelson these days).

As VH-FRL it was noted at Auckland on 23-07-1993 and then outside the Drake Aviation facility at Christcurch on 26-07-1993 (above pic). Using Tim Douglas-Cliffords initials it was registered as ZK-TDC on 12-10-1994. It is seen below at Christchurch on 20-10-2000.

On 05-12-2000 its registration letters were changed to that of ZK-ROK and ownership transferred over to Skydive Wanaka Trust. It is seen below in its Wanaka hangar on 10-12-2001 with the word "Lets" just above its ROK letters.

On 29-08-2002 Tandem Skydive Wanaka Ltd listed a new Pacific Aerospace Cresco 08-600 (c/n 033) as ZK-ROK2 having re-registered the A185 as ZK-ROL earlier the same day.ZK-ROL (still with the "Lets" above the new registration) was spied outside Timaru's Avtek on 20-10-2008. Below.

It went to Craig Thompson of Timaru on 10-11-2006 and when next observed at Masterton on 20-01-2011 (during the Cessna 180 50th anniversary flyin) was in a nice new colour scheme. Below.

I caught up with it again recently at Timaru on 24-09-2012 just after it had arrived back from a West Coast fishing expedition. Below.

This is a re-run of the original posting - correcting some errors and adding additional info and pics. Thanks to all who contributed.

Cessna 185C Skywagon ZK-CGG (c/n 185C-0769) was built as N5869Z and crated to New Plymouth for Rex Aviation (NZ) Ltd where it was assembled in September of 1964.

As a bit of usless information - in these earlier Cessna days - the last two numbers of the c/n where almost always the same as the last two numbers of the US civil registration.

Like most of these new 185's it was fitted with a "can" and sent out to earn its living on the farm.

It was delivered to Rural Aviation (1963) Ltd on 21-09-1964.

Below is an early photograph of ZK-CGG which had been allocated to Peter Meek and based at Taumaranui. Pic taken in the mid 60's by Allan Wooller. It has a Sea horse on the engine cowling, "Peter Meek" on the forward fuselage, and the round Cessna logo on its fin. The "Sea Horse" coming from its registration Cee Gee Gee.

These two views (above and below) come from Flyernz and were taken at Fielding on 05-02-1967.
It still wears the seahorse on the engine cowling and has "Taumaranui" on the doors.

Below is a shot of ZK-CGG taken at Tekuiti, about the same period, supplied by Ron Ark via Tomarse.

It was replaced at Te Kuiti by an AgWagon, and it was parked up at New Plymouth. In December of 1967 the hopper was out and it was used for parachuting out of Ardmore. In early 1967 the hopper went back in for John Harding to use on spraying duties.

Pictured below in a new paint scheme at Wanganui in February 1969. Another pic by Allan Wooller.

By 19-07-1969 ownership had transferred to Central Aviation Co Ltd of Roxburgh and is seen below at Taieri - again minus its ag equipment on 02-11-1970

And then spied at Luggate (below) on 27-12-1970 by Allan Wooller.

The next three shot were all taken at Taieri

Above, on 13-07-72 showing it fitted with a spreader, but no can, and same below but on 17-04-1973

It passed to the private ownership of W Ian Sarginson of Dingleburn Station on 29-03-1974. Below as seen on an unknow date by Allan Wooller with "Kittyhawk" Club badge on fin.

During 1982 it was noted at Southair having corroded tail section rebuilt.
In 1988 it was used on parachute dropping for the Otago Parachute Club and then migrated to the North Island.It had an engine failure and landed at the Taihape strip, in I think March 1991, followed by registration cancellation on 10-05-1991 and it went into storage as the owner was overseas, it just stayed in the Rangitikei hangar.
I next spied it stripped at Fielding in April of 2003. Aero Support at Fielding restored it to the register on 23-03-2004 for David Sarginson.

Final pic, above, was taken at North Shore on 14-06-2011 by Greybeard.
Now - a note from the current owner of ZK-CGG:- Great to see some early photos of CGG, compared to a lot of early 180/185s she seems to have been quite camera shy. At only 4600hrs total time she is most likely the lowest time old 'ag' 185, still with the Rural mods, including the old intake and exit holes for the super, now covered. She now resides back in Wanaka for private use. Some vid clips of recent flying on '64 skywagon' at youtube for the really keen (link below). Final bit of useless trivia - the only two of the ex Rural 185s still flying with the original IO-470 260hp engine are CGG and CGC. With lower fuel burn its a great engine for longish range flying in private use.

Friday, 26 October 2012

Titan T51 Mustang ZK-WUH (c/n 059) was in at Grant Porter's "The Landing Spot" at Rangiora this morning for a carb balance before departing for Loburn Abbey. This one was built by Mike Crene of Kiwi Mustangs for John Richards utilising a Rotax 912ULS and a four bladed constant speed prop. It has an extra fuel tank forward of the cockpit which helps with the c of g control.

First registered on 17-10-2012 was ZK-HXZ3 (c/n 1160024D) to Way 2 Go Heliservices Ltd of Rangiora. This airframe, originally built as N8340F came to NZ and became ZK-HPX on 24-01-1980. In August of 1988 it went offshore and became P2-AHN with Rotor Work at Mount Hagen, PNG. It returned to NZ and took up the new marks of ZK-HSR2 on 17-07-1992. By July 2008 it was with Airwest Helicopters of Reefton until being purchased by Way 2 Go on 06-10-2012. It replaces and takes up the old registration of their 369D ZK-HXZ2 (c/n 1170233D) sadly lost in Lake Sumner on 21-05-2012.

These three photos show it at Pacific Aircraft Services at Christchurch yesterday (25-10-2012) with part of the old "SR" markings still visible (above).

Below is something different.

Recently trailered into Rangiora was the Innovative Mosquito XE ZK-IXE (c/n MXE1043107) single seat helicopter which was taken over by Peter Boocock of Rangiora on 03-07-2012.

This was built by Blair Hollands of Auckland and listed on 17-04-2009. It is powered by a Compact Radial MZ202 engine of 65hp. Its second (brief) owner was Brett Oswald of Whakatane from 20-03-2012.

Taupo based Cessna 177B ZK-DNX was at Ardmore on 24 October and departed southbound the same day.
Zenith Zodiac CH601UL ZK-ZOD arrived at Ardmore 26 October. This aircraft was first registered on 14 October 2011 and has a Napier address and features a nicely stylised flag on the tail.